"Yunyun, remember to listen to your brother when you go to the TCM clinic. Don't be naughty, understand?" Wu Chunmei urged again, worried.
Du Yunyun was impatient. "I know, I know. I'm not a child. I know what I should and shouldn't do."
High school entrance exams were over. Du Fei had thought Du Yunyun would go out and have fun with her schoolmates. But to his surprise, Du Yunyun proposed to help out at the TCM clinic. In Du Yunyun's own words, she was a grown-up now and could do things within her capabilities. Du Yunyun planned to start by helping her brother and earning her own tuition fees.
Du Fei naturally wouldn't refuse his sister's thoughtfulness. So, the siblings agreed on a salary of two thousand yuan a month, with the condition that she had to request leave in advance if she couldn't come and was not allowed to be late or leave early.
Wu Chunmei was worried that Du Yunyun was still too young and might cause trouble for Du Fei at the clinic. On this point, both Du Fei and Liu Shishi sided with Du Yunyun. They both felt that Du Yunyun was a sensible child and wouldn't cause trouble for Du Fei. Going to the TCM clinic would be good practice. Besides, with Du Fei watching over her, there wouldn't be any problems.
After hearing Du Fei and Liu Shishi's words, Wu Chunmei finally felt at ease.
"Mom, we're leaving." Du Yunyun, carrying her small bag, bid farewell to Wu Chunmei excitedly.
The three of them left together. Du Fei first dropped Liu Shishi off at the bottom of Sunshine International Building before turning around and heading to the TCM clinic.
…
"Dabao, go get me..." Wang Zhongling had instinctively wanted to ask Du Dabao to buy her breakfast from the street. But as soon as she spoke, she remembered that Du Dabao was no longer at the TCM clinic.
After talking with Du Fei, Du Dabao had packed up and gone to Liu Shishi's company to handle security matters. Du Dabao had proactively asked Du Fei to find him a top security company in Rongcheng and planned to learn diligently for a month. In his own words, since Du Fei trusted him so much, he couldn't let Du Fei down.
Du Fei and Liu Shishi were very pleased with Du Dabao's actions. Regardless of how well Du Dabao learned in the end, his attitude and determination alone were highly commendable. However, with Du Dabao pursuing self-improvement, Miss Wang Zhongling found it inconvenient as she had lost a servant she could boss around.
"It's all Du Fei's fault! The number of patients at the TCM clinic keeps increasing, and he even poached Du Dabao to work for his girlfriend. He's so detestable!" As Wang Zhongling spoke, she was pounding herbs. Holding the pestle, she gritted her teeth with each pound, as if the herbs in the mortar were Du Fei himself.
Xu Wenshan, standing nearby, could only smile helplessly. Just then, Du Fei walked in from outside the TCM clinic.
"Du Fei, you rascal... Huh? Who is this little sister?" Wang Zhongling was about to scold Du Fei when he walked in. But mid-sentence, she suddenly noticed a little girl following behind him.
Du Fei smiled. "This is my sister, Du Yunyun. Her high school entrance exams just finished, and she said she wants to earn her own tuition, so she's come to work for me."
Du Fei then introduced Wang Zhongling and Xu Wenshan to Du Yunyun one by one.
"Hello, Sister Zhongling."
"Hello, Sister Wenshan." Du Yunyun was very sweet-tongued. As soon as Du Fei finished the introduction, she smilingly stepped forward to greet them.
Wang Zhongling was delighted. She immediately threw down the pestle, walked over to Du Yunyun, and hugged her. "Oh, you're so pretty and sweet-mouthed. I wish I had a sister like you, Yunyun."
Hearing Wang Zhongling's praise, Du Yunyun showed a shy expression. Seeing this, Wang Zhongling liked her even more.
Du Fei couldn't help but say, "Little girl, you've immediately charmed Miss Wang into a good mood. You're not like this at home."
Wang Zhongling, with one arm around Du Yunyun and the other on her hip, said, "From now on, I'm going to treat Yunyun as my own sister. Du Fei, watch your tone!"
Huh? Treating the little girl as her own sister? How long has it been, and they've become like sisters?
"Sister Zhongling, you have no idea. My brother always bullies me. I often dare not speak out, and it's so miserable." Hearing Wang Zhongling's words, Du Yunyun playfully stuck out her tongue at Du Fei when no one was looking.
Wang Zhongling got angry. "Du Fei! You're truly awful. To have such a cute and sensible sister, I'd cherish her like a jewel. How could you bully her! You're not human!"
"I..." Du Fei wanted to argue. But seeing that Wang Zhongling didn't seem inclined to listen to his explanation, Du Fei thought, it was no use saying anything now; no one would listen.
Someone entered the TCM clinic, so Du Fei told Wang Zhongling and Xu Wenshan that he'd assign Du Yunyun some simple tasks she could do, and then walked towards his desk.
Du Fei went to see patients, while Du Yunyun followed Wang Zhongling, starting to learn about the daily work at the TCM clinic. Although Wang Zhongling liked the intelligent and sensible little sister Du Yunyun very much, some of the work at the TCM clinic was related to patients' lives. Therefore, Wang Zhongling assigned Du Yunyun the task of pounding medicinal residue and gave her a comprehensive book of Chinese medicinal materials, asking her to first recognize all the basic herbs.
"Sister Zhongling, don't worry. I'll definitely do what you've assigned me diligently." Du Yunyun took the pestle and began pounding seriously, following Wang Zhongling's instructions. While pounding, Du Yunyun flipped through the book of Chinese medicinal materials in front of her. Wang Zhongling watched for a while before returning to her workstation.
Du Yunyun was young and it was her first time at the TCM clinic. However, she was serious and willing to put in the effort to learn. Soon, her pounding movements were becoming proficient. Xu Wenshan came over once to check the herbs Du Yunyun had pounded and even praised her, saying that Du Yunyun was much better at pounding herbs for the first time than she was when she first started. Afterward, Xu Wenshan packed the pounded herbs into a special box and gave Du Yunyun a different herb to pound.
"Sister Wenshan, my stomach feels a bit uncomfortable. I need to go to the restroom." Du Yunyun had been forced to eat a large bowl of something by Wu Chunmei early in the morning, and now she was having stomach problems.
Xu Wenshan said it was fine and personally escorted Du Yunyun to the restroom door inside. However, when Xu Wenshan returned, she suddenly noticed three men had entered the TCM clinic. The one in the front was a middle-aged man. Although he wore expensive clothes, his gaze was unsettling. He was currently looking around the TCM clinic with his subordinates, as if searching for someone.